Lincoln, Neb. – Nebraska Head Coach Gary Pepin announced on Tuesday the hiring of T.J. Pierce to the track and field staff as an assistant coach for the pole vault and multi-events. Pierce was previously on the Nebraska staff as the director of operations for eight years.

“T.J. has been a part of the Husker family for 12 years, and he has been a very dedicated, hard-working staff member for a long period of time,” Pepin said. “We’re looking forward to T.J. making an even larger contribution to this program in the future.”

Pierce spent four years as a pole vaulter at Nebraska, and he was a three-time academic all-conference selection. After completing his career as a Husker pole vaulter in 1997, he spent three seasons as an assistant recruiting coordinator at NU.

Pierce returned to his alma mater in 2005 after serving as the multi-events, horizontal jumps and pole vault coach at Kent State for four years, where he coached four All-America athletes. Prior to joining Kent State, Pierce served one season as the sprint, hurdle, vertical jumps and multi-event coach at Central Florida, where his athletes set 11 school records and earned 12 all-conference honors during his only season in Orlando.

Pierce received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics education from Nebraska in 1996.

Coach Pepin also announced the addition of Robert Harris to the track staff. Harris will serve as the Track and Field Operations and Recruiting Assistant, a position previously held by current Director of Operations Da’Nelle Earl. Harris previously worked as office manager for the Education Abroad & International Engagement office at UNL. A native of St. Ann, Jamaica, Harris was an All-Mountain West sprinter at Wyoming and graduated in 2006 with a degree in marketing.